In 1918, Teddy Roosevelt’s son Quentin (who had left Harvard during his sophomore year to serve in World War I) was shot out of the sky in one of aerial warfare’s early dogfights. German propagandists took photos of his maimed body amidst his plane’s wreckage and, hoping to dampen American morale, mailed one to Mrs. Roosevelt. (It’s an old tactic. Substitute “posted on the Web” for “mailed” and you can see that nothing much changes in the behavior of bastards.)

Edith Roosevelt, however, refused to be cowed. She insisted that the picture of her son’s crumpled body be displayed and cherished as a symbol of her family’s sturdiness and their pride in sacrifice for a high cause. As I traveled across Iraq with American soldiers this spring, I thought of what that tough lady did. She pushed aside her own grief, which was surely enormous, and expressed admiration and undying love for her son by celebrating his bravery—and, most importantly, by refusing to abandon his fight.

Like the steely Edith Roosevelt, Americans must not let ourselves be intimidated, or demoralized, or beaten. We must show we have the one simple, stubborn quality exhibited by great warriors, great leaders, and great nations throughout history: Endurance.

Edith's husband had that quality in spades, and his words resonate today when we think of the morale-crushing reportage -- with its anti-Bush, agenda-driven commissions and omissions -- being churned out daily by our mainstream press:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better . The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.